One of the principal ecological problems of the present day arises from the fact that in the many disposal areas throughout the country, a variety of materials, including metals, chemicals and organics, some of which are biodegradable and some of which are not, are dumped in a mixture with natural organic materials, or disposed of in open air dump sites. Because of the large preponderance of decaying organic debris in conventional garbage dumps, methane and other organic gases are generated, carrying with them into the atmosphere contaminants, such as, for example, vinyl chloride, benzene, toluene, carbon tetrachloride, and many other toxic vapors. It has been the practice in sanitary land fills, and in other dump sites in which an attempt is made to manage the effluent gases, to install vent pipes at various locations around the fill, which may extend six or eight feet above the surface and which may extend down to depths just above the water level. These pipes tend to channel the generated gases, including contaminants, permitting them to pass into the atmosphere, and reducing the chance of their ground migration, explosion or spontaneous burning in the fill.
A principal disadvantage of this method of releasing gases into the atmosphere is that the natural organic gases passing into the atmosphere, which may be predominantly methane, may be mixed with various toxic vapors, depending on the types of materials which have been dumped into the land fill or other dump sites. These contaminants may, for example, include carcinogens, such as vinyl chloride, and other of the contaminant vapors mentioned above, which are disseminated into the atmosphere creating potential health hazards.